New Bern is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 34,218 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, New Bern is the 32nd largest community in North Carolina. New Bern has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in New Bern, where the median household income is $61,031.00.

There are many members of the armed forces living in New Bern. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.

Also of interest is that New Bern has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.80% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

New Bern is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

In terms of college education, New Bern is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 29.40% of adults in New Bern have a college degree.

The per capita income in New Bern in 2022 was $38,196, which is upper middle income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $152,784 for a family of four. However, New Bern contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

New Bern is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call New Bern home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of New Bern residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in New Bern include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in New Bern is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Other Asian languages.